Const. James Forcillo, the police officer charged in the death of Sammy Yatim, arrives at court in Toronto on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015. The presiding judge in the trial of a Toronto police officer charged in the shooting death of a teenager on a streetcar has told the jury they must hear the evidence with an open mind.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
A jury has been presented with two sharply different interpretations of the events that led to the shooting death of Sammy Yatim on a Toronto streetcar more than two years ago.
Toronto police Constable James Forcillo either fired his weapon without reasonable cause nine times at the 18-year-old high school student. Or, the officer acted lawfully to protect the public from an angry knife-wielding attacker high on drugs who refused to surrender, even with eight bullets in his body.
Constable Forcillo is on trial on charges of second-degree murder and attempted murder in the death of Mr. Yatim, who was killed in the confrontation with police in the early morning hours of July 27, 2013.
The Ontario Superior Court trial began on Tuesday with the jury hearing opening arguments from the Crown and the defence.
Crown attorney Milan Rupic said the "fundamental issue" for the jury is to decide whether the officer had "reasonable grounds" to use lethal force.
"The Crown intends to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting of Sammy Yatim was not necessary and it was not reasonable," Mr. Rupic said.
The jury heard that the shooting and many of the actions of Mr. Yatim and police are captured on surveillance video from the streetcar, and video images taken by onlookers.
Mr. Yatim boarded a westbound streetcar on Dundas Street shortly before midnight. For about 10 minutes, he sat quietly and then suddenly unzipped his pants, exposed his penis and pulled out a 10-centimetre switchblade. Mr. Yatim swung the knife in "an arc motion" in front of a female passenger. "The knife did not touch the woman and she was not cut and not scratched," Mr. Rupic said.
The streetcar driver immediately stopped the vehicle and opened the door for people to get off. He then engaged in a conversation with Mr. Yatim, who wanted a phone to call his father, the Crown said.
The first officers on the scene after passengers called 911 were Constable Forcillo and his partner. Within seconds, four others arrived.
Constable Forcillo, outside the door of the vehicle, drew his weapon and demanded the young man drop his knife. Mr. Yatim refused, and mocked police.
"This standoff between the defendant Forcillo and Sammy Yatim lasted less than 50 seconds," the Crown said.
The officer discharged his weapon three times after Mr. Yatim took a step forward in the streetcar. One of the first three shots, which struck Mr. Yatim in the heart, was the cause of death. Another shot from the initial volley severed his spine and left him paralyzed on the floor of the vehicle. About five seconds later, the officer fired six more shots, five of which hit Mr. Yatim in the area of the groin.
Defence lawyer Peter Brauti told the jury his client did not have the option to back up. "Officer Forcillo was duty-bound to hold the line, to put himself in danger to protect the public," he said.
Mr. Yatim had been a significant danger to the public on the streetcar, suggested the defence lawyer. In front of a 12-year-old passenger "he was rubbing his penis in one hand and he was armed with [a] switch blade in the other hand," Mr. Brauti said. He added that the girl's aunt will testify that she believes she would have been killed if she had not "jerked back" when Mr. Yatim swung the knife.
Constable Forcillo will testify at the trial in his defence. And he will explain that he believed that in the instant before he fired his weapon, Mr. Yatim had a "tough guy, bring-it-on approach, with an angry look on his face," Mr. Brauti said.
The jury will hear from the first Crown witness on Wednesday in what is expected to be a two-month trial.